P62 Anti-cancer DNA Vaccine

P62 Anti-cancer DNA Vaccine

Elenagen™ is an anti-cancer DNA vaccine encoding p62 protein. Anticancer DNA vaccines activate the patient’s immune system to fight against cancer cells. Inhibition of malignant tumor growth by activating the patient's immune system is one of the most promising areas of modern oncology. The p62 gene was selected for the following reasons:

p62 is overexpressed in multiple tumors and types of cancer cells, where it forms multiprotein complexes different from those of non-malignant cells. Thus, highly expressed p62 may constitute a tumor-selective antigen.

If the expression of p62 is eliminated, a cancer cell cannot form a tumor. Also, p62 is a key element of autophagy, which protects tumors from radiation- and/or chemotherapy. Thus, a tumor cannot omit p62 expression under the selective pressure of the DNA vaccine.

Proof of Concept

A complete laboratory test has been conducted. The efficacy of this new vaccine has been demonstrated both in murine and rat tumor models, for both preventive and therapeutic applications in transplantable tumors (which were injected into animals) and spontaneous tumors (i.e., evident in genetically modified mice, which develop tumors at a certain age).

A complete cycle of preclinical toxicological studies has been conducted. In these studies, the safety of the vaccine and its low toxicity has been demonstrated.